make a mountain out of a molehill

M

make a mountain out of a molehill

Meaning | Synonyms

  • magnifying the content
  • exaggerated conversations
  • elaborating something in a very dramatic way
  • conveying something in a very different way by overemphasizing it
  • making big issues on a very small thing
  • make a fuss
  • make a big deal out of something
  • make too much of something
  • make a song and dance about
  • exaggerate or overstake

Example Sentences

  1. You are just making a mountain out of a molehill, you just gave a wrong answer, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to qualify to the second round.
  2. Don’t worry, it is just a small in jury, you don’t have to make a mountain out of a molehill.
  3. Rida just asked you to lower down your pitch. It was nothing to make a mountain out of a molehill.
  4. You were not supposed to believe Mack – he is always making mountains out of a molehill.

Origin

The oldest record of the idiom “making a mountain out of a molehill” is to be found in Nicholas Udall’s translation, 1548. It was mentioned as:

“… The Sophists of Greece could through their copiousness make an Elephant of a fly and a mountain of a molehill”

He is comparing a fly with an elephant which is a clear reflection of exaggeration. It is impossible to compare an elephant with a fly because of the difference in their size. Since then, this idiom was used rapidly in order to highlight the dramatization.

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